VHS After Effects Test

To film the VHS footage for the music video, we used Louis VHS camera, which obviously produced authentic VHS style video. However, as this model was rather old, we thought it would be appropriate to have some sort of back up just in case the camera or tape decided not to work. With this in mind, we decided to record Louis and Gina with both the VHS camera and a HD camcorder.

The idea was to be able to edit the footage in after effects in order to recreate the authentic VHS feel, and also to find a solution to the 4:3 ratio Louis camera used. Looking at various YouTube tutorials available, we were able to recreate some VHS styles with the footage we had got from the on-location shoots.

At first, we looked at the above tutorial, which was some person's after effects pre-set package. The package had a variation of sliders which we were able to tweak in order to achieve the desired look. After reviewing how the footage looked however we decided to search for other tutorials, not because what we had produced was bad but as a comparison.



This particular tutorial was a lot more complicated as there was no video tutorial, only a list of instructions. However, the footage turned out very different with this edit, as there were no sliders and it was purely based on trial and error.

After collecting all the variations of the edited VHS footage, a compilation was put together to compare it all, including the original VHS shots. This is because as we edited, the possibility of using the 'fake' VHS footage was becoming more likely.



After reviewing the footage next to each other in sequence, we decided to stick with the original VHS camera and use the after effects method as a back up, purely because of the authenticity of the original style. We also decided that we actually rather liked the black lines created by the 4:3 ratio of the camera, as again this was more authentic.